Murderer's conviction considered by Court of Appeal

The Court of Appeal today retired to consider whether Rex Haig's conviction for murder should be quashed.

Haig, 59, was found guilty in 1995 of murdering his tuna boat crewman Mark Roderique at Jackson's Bay on the West Coast the previous year.

He has spent more than a decade in prison but Haig has always maintained his innocence.

At the appeal hearing, his lawyer Jonathan Eaton produced several affidavits from people saying another crewman, Haig's nephew David Hogan, had admitted the killing.

Court of Appeal president Justice William Young said today the court would issue a written judgment after considering the matter.

Justice Young earlier said there was a "problem" with the conviction and only wanted to hear from Mr Eaton on the question of whether there should be a re-trial, not whether the conviction should be quashed.

- NZPA